Clip

There’s nothing worse than watching a 30-second ad to watch some 30-second clip of something the world inevitably finds funnier than you do. Google/YouTube are acknowledging this phenomenon of the consumer psyche and will introduce an ad-skip button this year.

The idea is as simple as this: If an advertiser’s commercial isn’t captivating enough to watch in its own right, it’ll be skipped by viewers. If viewers don’t watch the ad, Google doesn’t charge the advertiser.

Now I know what you’re thinking: Why would anyone watch an ad voluntarily? See exhibit A, the lead video in which the god of the infomercial, Ron Popeil, does his thing. The only way that 9-minute clip could be more captivating is to put ANOTHER 9-minute Ron Popeil clip in front of it.

This skippable ad model will inevitably lead to better ads—at least in terms of catering the online attention span—and, for those of us* with the libidinal fortitude to turn a blind eye on GoDaddy-esque BOOBIES BOOBIES BOOBIES teasers, a lot more free time. [WSJ via Fast Company]

* OK, maybe I don’t skip every such commercial. But I only** watch them to be educated enough to write about them on Giz.

Don’t misunderstand, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with AT&T’s desire to experiment with its logo design, but can we please focus funds on doing something about dropped calls first?

Despite the horrid scribbles and splashes of color we see at the end of the clip, AT&T’s not actually dramatically changing its logo. What it is doing is removing the little “at&t” caption which normally sits under the ball o’ blue. That logo modification and the clip above are apparently a part of the company’s latest ad campaign theme which is dubbed “Rethink Possible.”

Digital Consigliere

Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.